What I miss and what I like

Racing in the Bahamas.
My job was stowing the anchor chain below during the start and taking photos.

Here are a few things I miss when I am on land and away from the ocean:

* Sunrise, sunset and sun in general especially at this time of the year. I am an early morning person and love to watch the sun slowly rising out of the sea. Or at sunset, it almost feels as if we should hear the hiss of steam when it sinks down. We had some spectacular ones between Sicily and Tunisia as well as in Mexico where the sky was clear. And even in harbour or at anchor, all I have to do is poke my head out to see the sun. Where else can you have a 360 degree view?

* Coffee or drinks and eating in the cockpit - in good weather of course. And speaking of coffee and drinks, I really miss the way the Spanish, the French and the Italians make coffee. I have not had ONE single cup of coffee in a paper cup all summer. And the one euro per bottle wine in Spain. Actually, friends found a very passable, Italian red for E1.79 for a five litre box in Marsala, Sicily. The cheapest bottle of decent wine in Canada is about $10 and the Spanish table wine in a carton costs here $11.

* The gentle rocking of the boat at night.

Things I really appreciate on land:

Winter in Toronto, Canada

CN Tower

City Hall

I am spending the winter in Toronto this year with my son, Ryan and his family who live near downtown. From these photos it seems that Toronto is full of concrete, but I was surprised by just how many parks there are here. I used to live inToronto a few years ago while attending school, but left as soon as I saw one day on television just how beautiful and green British Columbia was. However, at this time, I consider this detour a wonderful opportunity to catch up on my writing, as well as indulge in culture, shopping and of course family time.

Tiramisu, my favourite dessert!

View from my door. Brrrrr.

And so, another season of publishing The Ionian is complete, I am working on a book and I will be updating this blog as I plan further cruising next summer.

Hope to see you in the Ionian next summer.

Horseshoe Bay to Vancouver Island

Horseshoe Bay ferry dock

Working Horse Winery in Peachland, B.C. Canada

I went for a visit to the Working Horse Winery in Peachland, B.C. and learned how to prune grape vines. What a lovely place. The owners, Tilman Hainle and Sara Norman work their land with horses rather than machinery and make organic wine on site. They welcome guests during the summer - check their website for more information.

Olympia Pizza and Greek Taverna

Ok, it's two months until I'm back in Greece, meanwhile, I am working on a collection of sailing stories, Salt Water in My Veins, alongside with the website, so my days are very busy. I don't even notice the miserable weather any more.

And then there is Latin and Greek dancing at night.... I go to the German Club on Friday nights and I could dance three or four nights a week all over town if I wanted to. I hope I find some opportunities to practice in Greece.

Oh, and the best news: There is this fantastic Greek restaurant in Kelowna called Olympia Pizza and Greek Taverna at 145 West Highway #33, (just before Rutland Road on the right). The owner, Michaili, is very friendly, the food is excellent and the decor is warm and authentic. There is even a real fireplace. This past Saturday a group of us went there to listen to some live music, watch a belly dancer, eat metzes (platters of a variety of Greek food), drink Greek wine and dance.

We had Greek salad with plenty of Feta cheese and Kalamata olives, Hummous and Taramasalata with pita bread and a large platter of spanakopita, barbecued ribs, meat balls, and prawns. For desert we had baklava. All very good. The Greek wine was a treat too.

The restaurant has several rooms, so you can be in the middle of the action or have a bit of privacy if you prefer. Olympia usually opens at 4 p.m. and the special evenings with live music are on every couple of weeks on Saturdays starting at 9 p.m. You can call for reservations at 250-765-0484 to find out when the next one will be. The best restaurant in Kelowna, in my opinion.

And in case you're wondering whether Michailis paid me to say all this, no, he didn't. It's just that wherever I travel, I try to find a real good cafe or restaurant and let me tell you, in some places it's not easy. I have most luck with places that are owner and family operated. Once I find a place, I tend to stick to it and call it my hang-out place. If Olympia was open all day, I'd probably be there every day just for coffee and to practice my Greek. Γεια σας.

Victoria Clipper escape

Winter in Victoria, Canada was dismal and I got depressed. Day after day it was gray and rainy. I couldn't remember the last time I saw the sun. So, finally I decided that life was too short to put up with miserable weather and booked a flight from Seattle to Mexico. The hydrofoil ferry from downtown to downtown was a great way to get there and a friend in Seattle met me at the dock. When it comes to decisions, I always ask myself if I will regret it when I am 100 years old. No, I don't regret it even when the sun came out on the day of my escape.

View of the Empress hotel downtown Victoria

Float plane coming down for a landing

Good bye, Victoria

What a ride!

Vancouver

I'm visiting family and friends in British Columbia and Eidos is safe in a boat yard in Greece. Amazingly, the weather in Vancouver is much better than what I left in the Ionian. For now at least. However, I'm still thinking of heading south after the holidays for some sun, sea and sand. Anyone need crew in Mexico or the Caribbean?
Meanwhile, my website is undergoing some changes and will be up again as soon as I can streamline it. Right now I have too many blogs and web pages to update and it's gone a bit out of control. Lean and mean is what I'm hoping to accomplish.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

May your days be merry and bright as well as sunny and warm (even if you're spending the time skiing). The days are getting longer starting at 16:22 today! Click here to read about solstice: http://www.didyouknow.cd/xmas/solstice.htm

My wish for this season is for more religious tolerance and understanding. If you click on the title above, you will see that spiritually, we're all pretty much the same.

And here is a copy of the page from http://www.didyouknow.cd/xmas/xmashistory.htm:

"In ancient pagan times, the last day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere was celebrated as the night that the Great Mother Goddess gives birth to the baby Sun God. It is also called Yule, the day a huge log is added to a bonfire, around which everyone would dance and sing to awaken the sun from its long winter sleep.

In Roman times, it became the celebrations honouring Saturnus (the harvest god) and Mithras (the ancient god of light), a form of sun worship that had come to Rome from Syria a century before with the cult of Sol Invictus. It announced that winter is not forever, that life continues, and an invitation to stay in good spirit.

The last day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere occurs between the 20th and 22 December. The Roman celebrated Saturnalia between 17 and 24 December.

The early Christians
To avoid persecution during the Roman pagan festival, early Christians decked their homes with Saturnalia holly. As Christian numbers increased and their customs prevailed, the celebrations took on a Christian observance. But the early church actually did not celebrate the birth of Christ in December until Telesphorus, who was the second Bishop of Rome from 125 to 136AD, declared that Church services should be held during this time to celebrate "The Nativity of our Lord and Saviour." However, since no-one was quite sure in which month Christ was born, Nativity was often held in September, which was during the Jewish Feast of Trumpets (modern-day Rosh Hashanah). In fact, for more than 300 years, people observed the birth of Jesus on various dates.

In the year 274AD, solstice fell on 25th December. Roman Emperor Aurelian proclaimed the date as "Natalis Solis Invicti," the festival of the birth of the invincible sun. In 320 AD, Pope Julius I specified the 25th of December as the official date of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Christmas official, but not generally observed
In 325AD, Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor, introduced Christmas as an immovable          feast on 25 December. He also introduced Sunday as a holy day in a new 7-day week, and introduced movable feasts (Easter). In 354AD, Bishop Liberius of Rome officially ordered his members to celebrate the birth of Jesus on 25 December.

However, even though Constantine officiated 25 December as the birthday of Christ, Christians, recognising the date as a pagan festival, did not share in the emperor's good meaning. Christmas failed to gain universal recognition among Christians until quite recently. In England, Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas festivities between 1649 and 1660 through the so-called Blue Laws, believing that Christmas should be a solemn day.

When many Protestants escaped persecution by fleeing to the colonies all over the world, interest in joyous Christmas celebrations was rekindled there. Still, Christmas was not even a legal holiday until the 1800s. And, keep in mind, there was no Father Christmas (Santa Claus) figure at that time.

Christmas becomes popular
The popularity of Christmas was spurred on in 1820 by Washington Irving's book The Keeping of Christmas at Bracebridge Hall. In 1834, Britain's Queen Victoria brought her German husband, Prince Albert, into Windsor Castle, introducing the tradition of the Christmas tree and carols that were held in Europe to the British Empire. A week before Christmas in 1834, Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol (in which he wrote that Scrooge required Cratchit to work, and that the US Congress met on Christmas Day). It was so popular that neither the churches nor the governments could not ignore the importance of Christmas celebrations. In 1836, Alabama became the first state in the US to declare Christmas a legal holiday. In 1837, T.H. Hervey's The Book of Christmas also became a best seller. In 1860, American illustrator Thomas Nast borrowed from the European stories about Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children, to create Father Christmas (Santa Claus). In 1907, Oklahoma became the last US state to declare Christmas a legal holiday. Year by year, countries all over the world started to recognise Christmas as the day for celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Have a merry Christmas
Today, many of the pagan uses are reflected in Christmas. Jesus was born in March, yet his birth is celebrated on 25 December, the time of solstice. The Christmas celebrations end the 12th day of Christmas (6 January), the same amount of days that the return of the sun was celebrated by ancient and Roman pagans. It thus is no surprise that Christian puritans - or even conservative Christians - often are upset that Christmas "is not as religious as it was meant to be," forgetting that Christmas was not celebrated at all until fairly recently."

Sunday walk in the park

It wasn't even cold! On days like today, I could even get to like winter again.

Why most people didn't go to work today...

This is one view from London, a southern Ontario, Canada town this morning. Is anyone suprised why I love the sun and warm weather? We couldn't even tell which car is my son's.

Well, after four days of running undelete and recover programs (had to pause every half an hour for half an hour so that the hard drive wouldn't overheat and fry) not a single photo from the bunch that were lost has surfaced. We used four different programs and no luck. I finally called Fujitsu (go to the source when all else fails) and they didn't offer much hope either (sad face).

And so, ladies and gentlemen, one day I will have to sail back to northern Italy and the Costa Brava section of Spain to take all those photos again. Anyone want to come?

My next project is to sort out all those emails that are waiting to be answered, and all the website files that need updating. And then I will do some serious writing for the rest of the winter. As you can see from the photo, unless I get some skis or snowshoes it looks like I'll be staying inside a lot this winter (sigh).

On the other hand, a visit to Mexico is really tempting, especially because of the many writers' retreats in places such as San Miguel de Allende, however, unless my air miles are up to it, it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

On the road again...

Or rather "up in the air again". Can anyone guess where I took the photos above?

I've been flying back and forth across Canada recently (visiting friends and family) and really need to stop to get some writing done. Yet, considering the weather here, I'm sooooo tempted to head south where it's sunny and warm. Anyone know of a writer's retreat in Mexico?

Oh, and my laptop will finally be getting some much needed attention this week. Meanwhile, here are some photos for you...

I have a new keyboard!!!

Thanks to Fujitsu and my son, Justin who installed it (he has better eyes), I am back in business! And with a bit of luck (and some SaranWrap) I'll never spill anything on it again. Next, to find all those photos on the hard drive. I think I might have to get a pro to do it. I am sooo happy!

Tunisia to Canada

That's southern Sardinia down there and I'm on my way from Tunis to Barcelona.

Well, another summer is over in the Mediterranean. The weather is still warm and sunny at least in Tunisia, but other things call me and so I am now in Canada visiting family. Cold and gray here! No outdoor cafes either.
Still getting over jet lag - talk about a long flight- Tunis to Barcelona then two days later over to London. Spend a night at the Lyton and Heathrow airports followed by a seven hour flight to Toronto. Sailing is easier...